The Swinging Cheerleaders (1974)

To me, this movie is perfection.

So much average

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

I'm not sure that I actually saw this film at the drive-in, where movies like this were a constant staple, but I did see a few like it. All of them seemed to have on goal in mind, to take the tops off of eager young women. At least that's the only thing I thought they were about back then. I found most poorly made and boring. But in watching this one I was surprised that there was actually a decent movie here although one made with a nearly non-existent budget.The story here revolves around the cheerleading squad at Mesa State. Kate (Jo Johnston) is the reporter for an underground newspaper on campus (face it all universities had them in the late 60s/early 70s). To get the gritty on the cheerleaders and how they are being taken advantage of by the team and alumni she goes undercover and becomes one of them. What she doesn't count on is discovering that they are just normal young women like here and that not all of the jocks are the jerks she assumed they were.She also didn't consider the fact she might find love with star quarterback Buck Larson (Ron Hajek). Buck is already involved with the head cheerleader Mary Ann (Colleen Camp) whose father is the most influential member of the alumni around. To cross her might mean the end of his scholarship. But this isn't the worst of the problems faced here.There is cheerleader Lisa who is romantically involved with her Professor Thorpe, her math teacher. They two plan to run off together as soon as he divorces his wife. Then there is Andrea, a virginal young cheerleader who can't quite seem to commit to a sexual involvement with her boyfriend who she dearly loves. We are also presented with a problem involving Thorpe, Mary Ann's father and the coach who are gambling on the team to make big bucks, so much so that the coach is willing to throw the game to advance their position.Kate's editor is a pot smoking radical who wants to do nothing less that stick it to "the man". When she begins to see that things aren't what they thought he doesn't take kindly to her new viewpoint. When Andrea goes to the newspaper's office to talk to her she's not there but he is. Taking out his frustration he rapes Andrea.The feminist viewpoints on display here, the sexual revolution that discusses both end of the scale from random sex to commitment, the discovery that the "straights" aren't as straight as thought and the "radicals" aren't nearly as progressive as they pain themselves all combine here to make an honest to goodness movie rather than a simple T&A drive-in flick. Yes, some of the jokes fall flat and are corny, yes the sets leave much to be desired at times, yes the acting ranges from solid to ludicrous but in the end the movie ends up being, well, a decent little movie. It has an actual story even if it is dropped down the most simplistic possible. But when you're shooting a movie in 12 days intended to do more than titillate teens what do you expect? That something good came from that is the most amazing thing.The Arrow Video release of this film is jam packed with goodies, like almost everything they are bringing out on blu-ray these days. I've hailed them for their quality product time and again and this time is no different. The movie looks beautiful on screen using the best possible print they could find. Extras include an audio commentary track with director Jack Hill made just for this release, a brand new interview with director Jack Hill, an archive interview with cinematographer Alfred Taylor, an archive interview with Jack Hill and Johnny Legend, a Q&A with Hill and actors Colleen Camp and Roseanne Katon recorded at the New Beverly Cinema in 2012, TV spots and a reversible sleeve featuring artwork by Graham Humphreys.If you have fond memories of going to the drive-in then by all means you'll want to add this one to your collection. It turns out to be more fun than you would expect and a better movie than most in the genre offer.

Okay, this is my second cheerleader movie in a row I'm reviewing having previously commented on The Cheerleaders. In this one, Jo Johnson is Kate, an aspiring reporter who joins the college cheer team to expose them for their sexual hijinks but ends up finding out about a corrupt fix involving the football games. Ms. Johnson is quite a sexy brunette here surrounded by a blonde Colleen Camp as Mary Ann, another blonde Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith as Andrea, and a female of color Rosanne Katon as Lisa. Yes, there's some sex scenes with the requisite nudity and some funny lines and sequences but there's also some nice dramatic ones concerning much of the plot I mentioned. If I hadn't read the credits on Wikipedia and this site, I would have been fooled this was actually written by two women but it's actually two men as one of them is really director Jack Hill (as "Jane Witherspoon"!). Still, it sometimes felt like there was a feminist spin in some of the scenes and I liked the way the tone changed partly on a dime. So on that note, I recommend The Swinging Cheerleaders.

It's amazing how this movie made me realize how fond I actually was of the first movie "The Cheerleaders". It was trash but really entertaining and fun trash. I just can't say the same about this sequel.I just never really had any fun with this movie. It doesn't really has comedy in it, or at least not of the funny kind. It just isn't as fun or clever written as the first movie. As a matter of fact, you could even say that this movie is bit overwritten, as strange as that perhaps might sound. With that I mean, is that the movie takes itself and its story a bit too serious. This movie didn't needed to have a main plot line in it! It should had been about silly teenagers, doing silly teenagers stuff, all sex related.But you can't even really call this a sexploitation flick. Really, it has far too little sex and nudity in it for that. Like I said, it's just too heavy on its story, which does not suit the genre at all. Another reason why I really wasn't taken by this movie was because it was lacking some good, or likable enough, characters in it. This is something the first movie did really right! Every character had a very distinctive personality and was often very likable because of that. In this movie I still can't tell you who is who in it. All I remember is that one of the guy's name was Bucky Larson.It's not exactly the worst movie I have ever seen, also not within its genre but it's still a very lacking- and a just not fun enough movie. Just stick with the original!4/10 http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

The prolific Jack Hill directs an exploitation feature this time focusing on cheerleaders and a football scandal..now this is what I seek out for my entertainment. The story-lines(..there are a series of plots focusing on certain cheerleaders and their love lives)aren't that challenging, just simple basic scenarios wrapped up in a tiny bow at the conclusion.Mesa College Dean, Head Football Coach, and a Math Professor all take part in a betting scheme, fixing numbers in regards to scoring during football games since the team is so talented. An underground college reporter, working on a major assignment for her term paper, decides to join the cheerleader squad to find dirt for it. Joe Johnston is Kate, the sexually liberated reporter who finds herself befriending her fellow cheerleaders, falling in love with the All American quarterback stud, Buck Larson(Ron Hajek) in the process. Buck is the boyfriend of head cheerleader Mary Ann(Colleen Camp), the prim, proper(..and quite naive)daughter of Mesa's Dean. Mary Ann doesn't have a clue that her man is banging all kinds of chicks on campus. Other sub-plots include virginal Andrea(Cheryl Smith)giving her football wide receiver boyfriend a hard time with her sexual hang-ups and cheerleader Lisa(Rosanne Katon)conflicted due to her affair with her married Professor Thorpe(Jason Sommers). Kate must contend with her deteriorating relationship with a campus radical who gets revenge on her, exposing the ditched article on cheerleader exploitation, raising the ire of her colleagues.I admittedly enjoy this kind of 70's drive-in fare, and as expected Hill understands how to deliver for this market. While the stories are soap opera in college kind of material, at least there was an effort to incorporate social themes reflecting that period of time. There's plenty of crude sex comedy humor throughout which means Hill done his homework. Hill mentions on the audio commentary that he hated football and didn't know that much about it, but I commend his ability to evoke the atmosphere of this particular setting, establishing how the sport could be used for behind-the-scenes crooked activities. Johnston(..I'm quite shocked this was her only performance)is quite appealing as the central character who stirs the pot and Cheryl Smith is beautiful / vulnerable as the dim bulb Andrea without a clue regarding the methods of passionate love-making. I love me some Colleen Camp and she's a fox, looking mighty fetching in her cheerleader uniform. There's some nudity sprinkled throughout, but Hill cuts away before sex commences.